A Female Doctor Who? It May Be More Likely Than You Think

If you've been keeping tabs on Doctor Who, by now you know that Steven Moffat's tenure is ending on the series. In addition, we recently learned that Peter Capaldi will also be finishing out his run when Moffat does. With the search for a new team, the idea that Doctor Who might choose a female Doctor has been bandied about once more, and as it turns out, the possibility is looking likely. At least if you are the type of person who is willing to bet on Doctor Who.

According to new information from LadBrokes, the gambling company still thinks that Doctor Who will be a male, as shown with the 4/7 odds for a male Doctor versus the 5/4 odds for a female Doctor. However, when the company gets into the nitty gritty of who could be the next Doctor, a ton of female names are bandied about. The likeliest person who could take over as the first female doctor, per the bets, is none other than Tilda Swinton.

Of course, Tilda Swinton has already been involved in another project revolving around a doctor, although she didn't play a doctor herself. In Marvel's Doctor Strange she played The Ancient One. That role was a pretty prominent one for Swinton, who has admittedly been a big name in the acting business for years. Words out on whether Tilda Swinton is actually interested in the role, but the odds are high that a female Doctor may take over. Tilda Swinton is running on 7/2 odds, meaning she's the favorite to take over. Other female names being bandied about include Olivia Colman (5/1), who worked with other Doctor Who actor David Tennant on Broadchurch, not to mention new showrunner Chris Chibnall, and Maxine Peake (8/1). Of the dudes who could potentially take over the new role, Kris Marshall (4/1), Richard Ayoade (10/1), Andrew Buchan (10/1) and Ben Wishaw (10/1) have decent odds.

Although Steven Moffat was formerly saying he didn't think there would be a Doctor Who lead vacancy for a while, the fact of the matter is that recasting is going to happen and should be happening as the changeover goes down. Although Doctor Whoalmost had a female Doctor years ago, for some fans, casting a female Doctor has been somewhat controversial, with some saying the Doctor is definitively a male character. It's likely a debate we'll be hearing and talking about plenty in the coming months.

Of course, there's still an entire season and a Christmas special left to air before Peter Capaldi says goodbye to Doctor Who, so we may not know exactly what will be happening next until after new showrunner Chris Chibnall takes over. Keep an eye on the news in the coming months, and take a look at what is headed to TV soon with our midseason TV premiere schedule.